Mount Pilatus

Pilatus rises steeply above Lake Lucerne, and the classic way up is a piece of Victorian engineering: a cogwheel railway opened in 1889 that grinds up a gradient reaching close to half, the steepest of its kind anywhere, hauling red carriages through meadows and rock cuttings to a summit station just below the ridge. From the top, walkways and short tunnelled paths lead to viewpoints over the lake, the surrounding peaks and, on a clear day, a huge sweep of central Switzerland. The mountain carries a thick layer of legend: it was long said that dragons lived in its caves and that the ghost of Pontius Pilate haunted a lake near the summit, and for centuries the authorities of Lucerne forbade climbing it. The popular Golden Round Trip combines a boat across the lake, the cogwheel railway up and the cable cars down to Kriens.

History

Local legends tie the name to Pontius Pilate, though it may come from pileatus, cloud-topped. Conrad Gessner, Arthur Schopenhauer in 1804 and Queen Victoria were among those who reached the summit, and the cog railway opened in 1889 (Wikipedia, Pilatus (mountain)).

The landscape

• The cogwheel railway - the steepest railway of its kind, running since 1889.
• The summit ridge walks - short paths and tunnels to the viewpoints over the lake.
• The Golden Round Trip - boat, cog railway and cable car linked into one circuit.
• The dragon legends - the caves and stories that gave the mountain its reputation.

When to go

May to October, when the cogwheel railway runs and the summit is snow-free; the cable cars from Kriens run year-round, so a winter visit is possible above the fog. Clear days are everything here, and in autumn the summit often stands above a sea of cloud filling the lowlands.

What to expect

It is expensive, as Swiss mountain transport generally is, and the Golden Round Trip adds up quickly unless you hold a rail pass that discounts it. The summit has hotels, restaurants and a lot of built infrastructure, so this is a developed mountain rather than a wild one. On a cloudy day you pay a great deal to stand in fog, so watch the webcams before committing. The cog railway is closed through the winter.

Nearby

Lucerne and its lake are at the foot of the mountain; Rigi, the rival viewpoint peak, is across the water.

Key facts